Jury convicts man of beating, strangling pregnant girlfriend

A jury has convicted a West Side man of beating and choking his girlfriend, who was nine months pregnant, in December 2011.

Eli Casillas, 29, was found guilty of second-degree strangulation and second-degree assault for the attack, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

At the time of Casillas’ 2011 arrest, police said he had held her captive for three days, beating her and stomping on her stomach.

Casillas, a prior felon, struck her with a metal broom and nearly caused her to lose consciousness by choking her, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Police found the girlfriend badly injured in a bedroom in Casillas’ house. The pregnant woman had bruising, swelling, welts, a black eye and dried blood in her mouth, according to Buffalo police reports.

District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III, in a statement, said “such savage acts of domestic violence cannot be tolerated in a civil society and will continue to be aggressively prosecuted by this office.”

Casillas remains in custody. He faces up to 14 years when sentenced on March 14 by State Supreme Court Justice Deborah Haendiges.